Boris Johnson comes out swinging over Brexit
The British PM defiant after ruling as he looks to back himself at the polls
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has come out fighting after a string of defeats, including a bruising blow from the country’s highest court. His combative stance is offending some — but that may be the point.
His strategy appears straightforward: ridicule Parliament as a bunch of weaklings wedded to the European Union and unwilling to follow the people’s mandate to pull the country out of the European Union.
He may not be able to make good on his vow to make Brexit happen on October 31, but he has positioned himself for the possible election ahead so he can blame Parliament — and the EU’s supposed intransigence — for keeping Britain inside the bloc.
Although Johnson is setting the stage for a “People-versus-Parliament” election, the reality is that the nation remains deeply split over the wisdom of leaving the EU, and the debate has become ever more shrill and angry, particularly after Britain’s Supreme Court unanimously declared this week that Johnson acted illegally in suspending Parliament for five weeks. The court said the suspension had the effect of squelching debate over Brexit.
On Thursday, during a bitter session of Parliament, Johnson refused to apologise for breaking the law, and he accused his Brexit opponents of pursuing “surrender” and “humiliation” and betraying the people three years after they narrowly voted for Brexit in a nationwide referendum.
He also dared his opponents to seek a no-confidence vote and trigger a new election, though no one immediately took the bait.
Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, did, however, say Johnson is not fit to govern and “should have done the honourable thing and resigned” after the ruling.
Johnson’s gamble is that when a national vote is held, perhaps as early as November, Brexit backers will flock to him, and those who oppose it will be split among the opposition parties.
Former Labour Party leader Ed Miliband said in Parliament yesterday that Johnson’s inflammatory words are a “disgrace”. “He is trying to divide an already divided country,” Miliband said. “Some people say this strategy will work, Mr Speaker. I say this strategy will not work, as the British people are better than this.”
Many of Johnson’s decisions are shaped by top adviser Dominic Cummings, an architect of the successful “Leave” campaign in 2016. Cummings’ strategy in that pitched battle could offer clues to Johnson’s approach in the event of an election.
Cummings concocted the “Leave” campaign’s slogan — “Take back control” — and helped shape misleading but effective messages, including the claim that Britain sends the EU £350 million ($685.3m) a week that could be given instead to the National Health Service to improve care.
For people dismayed by Britain’s uneven medical care, that claim gave hope that leaving the EU would make it easier for them to get a doctor’s appointment or a hospital test without a long wait.
Cummings also hired a datamining firm that helped the “Leave” campaign identify and connect with voters who had been overlooked.
Johnson, guided by Cummings, has taken note of US President Donald Trump’s combative tactics and to a degree followed suit, challenging Parliament and the court system.
The prime minister has refused to say he will comply with a new law that would require him to seek a Brexit extension if no deal is reached by mid-October.
He has denounced the court decision on his suspension of Parliament.
And he has refused to rule out suspending it again.